Alexandria Smith’s First and Last

American artist Alexandria Smith’s work addresses collective memory, autobiography, myth and history and Black identity. Incorporating elements of collage, drawing, painting, sculpture and immersive installation in her work, she fuses figuration with abstraction to create hybrid characters. These bodies are variously coloured and ambiguously gendered, with emphasised features such as eyes, limbs and hair, embodying multiple states of living, growth and transformation.

First: Bitches Brew by Miles Davis

The first image is the album cover of Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, one of my favorite albums of all time. Every Sunday growing up, my Dad would blast records that would reverberate throughout the house. Whenever I would ask him what he was playing, he would share a story about where he was when he first heard the album or a crazy story from his childhood in Harlem. I vividly remember the day he showed me this album at nine years old and I was mesmerised. It’s the album I still listen to regularly and my most treasured of my Dad’s extensive record collection since his passing.

Last: “Shapeshifter” from Spotify Wrapped, 2023

The second image is a screenshot I took on my phone from my Spotify Wrapped data summary of my year. It depicts my listening personality which is a “Shapeshifter”. Music is a very significant aspect of my practice and to see that data gave me a lot of perspective on how the music I listened to and the artwork I made during the year are inextricably linked to what was happening to me personally and what we have experienced globally during that time. The title alone gives you insight into not only the way that I listen to music but also the way that I think.